The Messiah in Moses and the Prophets Part 2

CHAPTER IV.

Visible Appearance of the Messenger Jehovah to Hagar.

The first recorded instance of the visible appearance of the Angel or Messenger Jehovah, is that to Hagar, Gen. xvi., where the designation Melach Jehovah is repeated several times. The Messenger Jehovah found Hagar by a fountain of water. He called her by name; directed her to return to her mistress; promised to multiply her seed exceedingly; and directed her to call her son Ishmael, "because _Jehovah_ had heard her affliction." "And she called the name of _Jehovah_ that spake unto her, Thou El seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?" The visible Person whom she saw, and who spoke to her, and promised what none but a Divine Person could promise, is called Melach Jehovah, and also Jehovah, and El. He was therefore not a messenger _of_ Jehovah, or a distinct person from him, but Jehovah himself, as recognized and wors.h.i.+pped under the several designations here applied to him. Considered as the administrator of Providence, the things said and done by him were in keeping with his delegated character, and with the acts ascribed to him on other occasions. There is a further notice of his dealings with Ishmael, Gen. xxii. 17, after his expulsion, with Hagar, from Abraham's house, and her abandonment of him in despair of his life. "And Elohim heard the voice of the lad: and Melach Elohim [in our version, the angel _of_ G.o.d] called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for Elohim hath heard the voice of the lad, where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thy hand; for _I_ will make of him a great nation. And Elohim opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and Elohim was with the lad," &c.

Here the speaker is Melach Elohim, which designation must refer to the same official Person as that of Melach Jehovah in the former instance, for he personally promised the same thing; saying in the one case, "_I_ will multiply thy seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for mult.i.tude;" and in the other, "_I_ will make him a great nation." That the import and reference of the two formulas is the same, is also evident beyond a question from other pa.s.sages, where both are indifferently applied to the same person; as Judges vi. 20, 21: "And _Melach (the) Elohim_ said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. Then _Melach Jehovah_ put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh," &c. And again, Judges xiii. 3-9: "And Melach Jehovah appeared unto the woman, and (the) Elohim hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and Melach (the) Elohim came _again_ unto the woman." The narratives in which these pa.s.sages occur clearly restrict the reference to one and the same Person.

In the original of these quotations, the article is prefixed to the word Elohim, as it is also elsewhere, (underscored, or included above and hereafter in parenthesis,) which is by some supposed to require the rendering to be, as in our common version, _the angel or messenger_ of Elohim. But this conclusion cannot be sustained: 1st, because it indicates something different in respect to the Person referred to from the formula Melach Jehovah; and 2d, because in other instances of similar formulas the article does not occur, as in Gen. xxi. 17: "And Melach Elohim called to Hagar." The occurrence of the article does not determine the construction. It is often redundant, and is prefixed to the word Elohim where it cannot be a sign of the genitive, because not immediately preceded by a noun to govern it. Thus in the pa.s.sage above quoted from Judges xiii. we read, "and _the_ Elohim hearkened," &c., the article being prefixed in the original. So Gen. vi. 11: "The earth also was corrupt before _the_ Elohim." Gen. xvii. 18: "And Abraham said unto _the_ Elohim." Gen. xxii. 3, 9, xxvii. 28, and many other places.

CHAPTER V.

No visible Divine Appearances ever made except of the Messiah, the Mediator in all the Relations of G.o.d to the World.

Having shown that the denominative Melach, when coupled with the name Jehovah, or the name Elohim, or used interchangeably with either of those or with other Divine names, is a designation of the Messiah; that when that denominative is employed interchangeably with the names Jehovah, Elohim, or Adonai, those names designate the same official Person; and that the formulas Melach Jehovah and Melach Elohim have one and the same personal import and reference, the way is prepared for an examination of other Scriptures in which occur the same designations of the delegated ONE of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, the WORD who was in the beginning, and by whom all things were created and are upheld.

This wonderful Person often, in the course of the ancient dispensations, manifested himself visibly in the likeness of that form which in due time he permanently a.s.sumed, by taking human nature into union with his person. In his delegated official character, being the agent in all external and visible works and manifestations, and the medium of all relations between creatures and the Self-existent, he was from the beginning the image and acting representative of the invisible Deity; delegated of the Father to accomplish the works which, pursuant to the counsels of eternity, belong to his comprehensive administration. To him, in this character and in distinction from the Father, belonged all visible personal manifestations. And hence, to enforce the necessary discrimination, and prevent erroneous impressions, the Evangelist John, chap. i., on announcing the visible WORD, the WORD incarnate, as the visible expression of the glory of the Father, says: "No man hath seen G.o.d (the Father) at any time; it is [see Campbell's version] the only-begotten Son, that is in the bosom of the Father, who hath made him known." And again, chap. vi. 45: "Every man that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me; not that any man hath seen the Father;"

(or, as rendered by Campbell,) "not that any man, except him who is from G.o.d, hath seen the Father. He, indeed, hath seen the Father," Again xiv.

9: "He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father;" that is, hath seen the image, the only visible representative of the Father. And in his first epistle, chap. iv: "No man hath seen G.o.d at any time. If we love one another, G.o.d dwelleth in us. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world."

These statements preclude the supposition of any visible personal appearance during the preceding dispensations, excepting of the delegated official Person to whom the revelation of the Invisible was a.s.signed; and who when referred to as Creator is called Elohim and Jehovah, and when referred to as the administrator of Providence, or in his relations to individuals and to the house of Israel, is called indiscriminately by all the Divine names and t.i.tles, whether significant especially of his Divine nature, or of his official person, agency or character.

In these multiform relations he was the great theme, as he was the lawgiver, administrator and revealer of the ancient dispensations; a.s.serting the same prerogatives and performing the same acts when referred to by official t.i.tles, as when specially denominated Jehovah or Elohim. In both cases, from the nature and historical connection of the acts ascribed to him, it is evident that the actor was personally one and the same.

The word Elohim is a general term, employed, it may be presumed, originally, with reference only to the Supreme Being, but subsequently appropriated to imaginary deities. In the Hebrew Scriptures it occurs in several forms, as El, Elohe, Eloah, Elohim, referring sometimes to the Divine Being absolutely, sometimes definitely to the Father, sometimes to the Holy Spirit, but commonly to the Son; as is the case with corresponding and equivalent designations in the New Testament. The radical idea of this word, in its simplest form, is, according to some Hebrew lexicographers, that of interposer, intervener, mediator; derived from the intervention of air and light between all bodies in s.p.a.ce, and indicating the universal agency of the Divine Person, primarily designated as interposer or mediator. And undoubtedly the scope of numerous pa.s.sages implies this special reference, though not always apparent, without reference to other scriptures; as in Psalm xlv. 6: "Thy throne, Elohim, is for ever and ever;" and cii. 24: "I said, El, [with the suffix for my, and rendered O my G.o.d,] take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish," &c. These pa.s.sages are quoted, Heb. i., as having referred expressly to Christ.

Hengstenberg, in his Christology, p. 160, vol I., introduces his investigation respecting the character of the Angel or Messenger, in which he designs to show that the alleged essential oneness of the Messiah with the Jehovah does not contradict the Old Testament doctrine of the unity, by observing, "that the New Testament makes us acquainted with G.o.d, the Father of Jesus Christ, as a Spirit, who, being every where equally present, never manifests himself in a sensible form. But besides this concealed G.o.d, it makes known to us also a revealed G.o.d, a.s.sociated with him by the oneness of their nature; the Son or Logos, who has constantly filled up the infinite distance between the Creator and the creation, and been the Mediator in all the relations of G.o.d to the world and the human race; who, even before he became man in the person of Christ, was in all ages the light of the world, and to whom especially the whole direction of the visible Theocracy belonged.

Although this doctrine was first unfolded with perfect clearness in the New Testament, yet we find an essential distinction between the unrevealed and the revealed G.o.d, even in the writings of the Old Testament."

After examining the princ.i.p.al pa.s.sages which speak of the Messenger or Angel Jehovah, and showing "that they really contain the doctrine of a distinction between the concealed and the revealed G.o.d," pp. 165-182, he thus concludes, pp. 183-187: "We believe then that we have satisfactorily shown that by the Angel of Jehovah is to be understood the Revealer of G.o.d, who being a partaker of his G.o.dhead, and united with him in the same nature, was the mediator in all his relations, first with the patriarchs, and afterwards with the visible Theocracy. This Revealer of Jehovah then was expected as a great Restorer in future times. This is evident from those places in the Old Testament which ascribe to the Messiah Divine names, attributes, and works; for if the Messiah were G.o.d, he could stand, according to the whole system of the religion of the Old Testament, in no other relation to the Most High G.o.d than that which the Angel of Jehovah was thought to sustain. Further, the pa.s.sage in Malachi iii. 1 affords the most distinct testimony in favor of the ident.i.ty of both. There the Messiah bears the name of the Angel of the Covenant, either, according to the general import of the term covenant, the angel who is the mediator in every engagement between G.o.d and men, or, according to its special meaning, the angel who established the covenant of Sinai with the people of Israel. From this appellation, therefore, it appears that the Messiah is the same as the Angel Jehovah, whose agency in giving the law at Sinai is not indeed expressly mentioned in the Mosaic account, but it is rendered sufficiently certain by a.n.a.logy, and by the positive testimony of the prophet. As the Angel Jehovah, in those pa.s.sages where he is expressly named, bears interchangeably the names Jehovah and Elohim, so must we often suppose him to be intended, where Jehovah only is spoken of throughout. Comp. Gen. x.x.xii. 24, &c., with Hosea xii. 4-6, and Exod. xx.

3, where the angel is not mentioned, and Jehovah says, 'I am the Lord thy G.o.d, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.' Allowing it to have been the office of the Angel Jehovah in general to act as mediator in the transactions between the invisible G.o.d and men, his mediation must be a.s.sumed, in many instances, where it is not expressly mentioned." "This ident.i.ty of the Angel of Jehovah and the Messiah was acknowledged also by the later Jews." "But what renders this ident.i.ty indubitably certain is the evidence of the New Testament, in which Christ appears as the Mediator of the Old Covenant, and every thing is attributed to him which in the Old Testament is spoken of Jehovah and his Revealer. According to John xii.

41, Isaiah saw the glory of Christ and spake of him; on the other hand, in the pa.s.sage referred to, chap. vi., Isaiah saw the glory of Jehovah. 1 Cor. x. 9, it is said, 'Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents.' According to this pa.s.sage, therefore, Christ was the leader of the Israelites through the wilderness, and was tempted by them. On the other hand, the Pentateuch relates that they were led by the Angel Jehovah; and in Numb. xxi. 5-7, that they tempted Jehovah. 1 Pet. i. 10 declares that the Spirit of Christ spake by the prophets: but the prophets themselves always refer to Jehovah as the source of their predictions. According to Heb. xi. 26, Moses preferred reproach for the sake of Christ, to the treasures of Egypt: the narrative in Exodus informs us that he sacrificed every thing to the service of Jehovah. According to Heb. xii. 26, at the giving of the law, the voice of Christ shook the earth: in Exodus this was done by Jehovah." "We must in a certain respect distinguish between the Angel Jehovah and the Son of G.o.d, and not, with the Fathers and most of the old theologians, venture to say that they are perfectly identical." "That the Mediator of the New Testament was also, as the Angel Jehovah, the Mediator in all the relations of G.o.d to the people of the Old Testament, was, with the exception of the above named Fathers, the unanimous opinion of the ancient Church."

After quoting a list of authorities, he concludes: "Let us now briefly sum up the result of the preceding investigation. In the prophetic Scriptures, a divine as well as human nature is attributed to the Messiah; and yet every polytheistic idea is excluded by the a.s.sumption of his essential unity with the Most High G.o.d. It was expected that the Angel or Revealer of Jehovah, who had often before made himself occasionally visible, and acted as the Mediator between G.o.d and the people, in all their transactions, would a.s.sume human nature in the person of the Messiah, and redeem and bless both Jews and Gentiles.

"Here the question yet arises: If the distinction between the revealed and the unrevealed G.o.d was already made known under the Old Testament, wherein is the New Testament in this respect superior to the Old? The preference consists in this: Under the Old Testament the distinction was necessarily kept more out of view, and hence might easily appear to be founded not so much on a relation in the G.o.dhead itself, as on a relation to those to whom the revelation was made. In the Old Testament, the Mediator commonly spoke and acted in the name of G.o.d, whom he revealed. Nor could it be otherwise before the Logos had become flesh.

Hence the Revealer and He who was revealed in a manner lost themselves in each other. But under the New Testament, on the contrary, they appeared distinguished from each other, as Father and Son. Religion thus gained a two-fold advantage. It became more spiritual, and at the same time more an object of sense: more spiritual, by the exclusion of those limited conceptions of the spirituality, the omniscience, and the omnipresence of G.o.d which arose from confounding the Revealer with him who was revealed; more an object of sense, because the Son of G.o.d, in his life, sufferings, and death, brought the Divine Being nearer to man than was possible in the transient appearances of the Angel under the Old Testament. But such a condescension of the Deity to fallen man is indispensable to his becoming like G.o.d."

On these pa.s.sages it may be observed, that in what the author says of the Mediator having "constantly filled up the infinite distance between the Creator and the creation," he proceeds on the common theory that the invisible, the concealed G.o.d, in distinction from the personal Word, is the Creator. This is inconsistent with the preceding statement, that he never manifests himself in a sensible form: for He who created, upholds and governs, appeared personally and visibly to Abraham, Jacob, Moses and others, as Jehovah, gave the law at Sinai, and was the leader of Israel. With respect to the distinction which he refers to as existing in a certain respect between the Angel of Jehovah and the Son of G.o.d, it is presumed that he considered the latter t.i.tle as applicable to the second Person of the Trinity, eternally, and as designating that Person anterior to his appointment as Mediator, and without reference to his incarnation or his official work in any respect. The doctrine which he ascribes to the Fathers is presumed to be, that the official Person who is called the Angel Jehovah, and who took on him the seed of Abraham, was identically the same Person before and after the accession and union of man's nature to the Divine; and that he was designated as the same person by the phrase, "the Son of G.o.d." In the pa.s.sages above quoted, where the preposition _of_ is not inserted between the words Angel and Jehovah, the author gives the Hebrew words. When he translates them, he inserts the preposition.

CHAPTER VI.

Appearances of the Messenger Jehovah to Abraham and to Jacob.

In the narrative of Abraham's offering of Isaac, Gen. xxii., we read that "Melach Jehovah called unto him out of heaven, and said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, for _I_ know that thou fearest Elohim, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from _me_. And Melach Jehovah called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith Jehovah, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, That in blessing I will bless thee, because thou hast obeyed _my voice_."

At the commencement of this narrative it is said that (_the_) Elohim did tempt Abraham, _i. e._, try him in respect to his faith and obedience.

"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham went unto the place of which (_the_) Elohim had told him."

There he built an altar, and having bound Isaac he laid him on the altar, and took the knife to slay him; when Melach Jehovah called to him, forbade the intended sacrifice, and said, I know that thou fearest Elohim, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son from _me_. From this it is evident that the offering was intended to be made, and was virtually made, to Melach Jehovah. For "By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac; accounting that G.o.d was able to raise him up from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure." Heb. xi. His faith, in this extraordinary act of wors.h.i.+p, had immediate respect to the delegated Messenger Jehovah, then and ever the resurrection and the life. He was the Divine speaker on the occasion, his voice it was that Abraham obeyed, and to him he rendered the highest acts of homage and obedience. It was in his official name, as well as in that of Elohim, that he spoke to Abraham, and to him in all respects the scene evidently refers. After offering the animal provided in place of Isaac, he discerned an import and a reference in the transaction, which were to be fulfilled on the same mount at a future day; and he therefore named the place Jehovah-Jireh, importing that what was signified by his offering would be realized and witnessed there, and giving rise to a saying expressive of that result, and pointing no doubt, so explicitly as not to be misunderstood, to the sacrifice of Christ: namely, "In the mount of Jehovah it shall be seen;" or, according to Warburton, Book vi. sec.

5, "In the mount Jehovah shall be seen."

In the narrative of Jacob's departure from Laban, Gen. xxi., he says: "Melach (the) Elohim spake unto me in a dream, and he said, I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. I am the El of Beth-El, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto _me_." Here the Messenger Jehovah declares himself to be the G.o.d of Beth-El, and that the vow made there was made to him. In chap. xxviii., where that transaction is related, he is announced, not by this special name of office, but by other designations, showing that in his official character he was familiarly recognized by the various Divine names, whether employed separately or conjointly. And Jacob awaked and said, "Surely Jehovah is in this place; this is the house of Elohim: and Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If Elohim will be with me, &c., then shall Jehovah be my Elohe."

There is in the history of Jacob another striking ill.u.s.tration of this usage. On his way from Padan-aram, after his interview with Esau, he came to Shalem in the land of Canaan and pitched his tent there, and built an altar which he called El-Elohe-Israel. Subsequently Elohim said unto Jacob, "Arise, go up to Beth-El, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto El that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Then Jacob said unto his household, Let us arise and go up to Beth-El, and I will make there an altar unto El who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. So Jacob come to Beth-El, and he built there an altar, and called the place El-Beth-El, because there (the) Elohim appeared unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. And Elohim appeared unto Jacob again; and Elohim said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Isra-El shall be thy name. And Elohim said unto him, I am El-Shadai, (G.o.d Almighty.) And Elohim went up from him in the place where he talked with him." Chap. x.x.xv. But He who visibly appeared to, and wrestled with him on the occasion referred to, Gen. x.x.xii., and whom he saw face to face, was Elohim in the likeness of man, and is called by Hosea Melach, the Messenger, even Jehovah Elohe of Zebaoth.

The above-mentioned appearance of Elohim to Jacob was doubtless a visible appearance, for after talking with Jacob, Elohim went up from him and from the place of meeting. And it is clear that the same Person who before was called a man is here called Elohim. Probably in other instances, where Jehovah or Elohim is said to appear, as to Isaac, Gen.

xxvi. 2, 24, and to Abraham and others on various occasions, were visible personal appearances.

Another instance in the history of Jacob, in which the official designation Melach occurs interchangeably with Elohim, is Gen. xlviii.

15: "And he blessed Joseph and said, (The) Elohim, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, (the) Elohim which fed me all my life long unto this day, _the Melach_ which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads." The ident.i.ty of Person here is made emphatic by the article prefixed to each designation.

CHAPTER VII.

References to various Appearances of Jehovah and Elohim to the Patriarchs.

It is evident from the preceding ill.u.s.trations that during the patriarchal dispensation, the personal Word, Jehovah in the delegated character of Messiah, appeared visibly in the form of man, and was recognized under official and other Divine designations, appropriated separately and interchangeably to the one manifested and acting interposer and agent in the works of creation, providence and redemption. There are in the records of that dispensation numerous collateral evidences and implications to the same effect, which may be comprised under what relates to personal designations and appearances, the import and reference of sacrificial offerings, the places, manner, and immediate object of wors.h.i.+p, prayer, faith and trust, and the familiarity of intercourse on the part of the Divine administrator of Providence and guardian of his people during that economy.

As a further evidence that the instances in which it is said that Elohim or Jehovah _appeared_ to Abraham or others were local, personal, visible appearances, it may be observed that on the occasion mentioned, Gen.

xvii., it is said that Jehovah _appeared_ to him: "And he left off talking with him, and Elohim _went up_ from Abraham;" as in a pa.s.sage before referred to, chap. x.x.xv., that "Elohim appeared unto Jacob; and Elohim _went up_ from him in the place where he talked with him." The word translated _went up_, signifies to _ascend_, _to go up_, &c., and is of frequent occurrence. Thus, Ps. lxviii. 18: "Thou hast _ascended_ up on high, thou hast led captivity," &c.; quoted and applied to Christ, Eph. iv. Judges xiii. 20: "When the flame _went up_ towards heaven from off the altar, Melach Jehovah _ascended_ in the flame of the altar."

Ezekiel xi. 23: "And the glory of Jehovah _went up_ from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain." Gen. xix. 28: "The smoke of the country _went up_, as the smoke of a furnace."

The like evidence as to the local, personal presence of Jehovah on such occasions, results from the use of the word translated _came down_, _descended_, where his presence or the local exercise of his prerogatives is mentioned. Thus, with reference to Babel and the dispersion: "Jehovah _came down_ to see the city and the tower.... So Jehovah scattered them abroad," &c. Gen. xi. 5. So on the occasion of his first visible appearance to Moses: "Melach Jehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon Elohim. And Jehovah said, I am _come down_ to deliver them," &c. Exod. iii. Again: "Jehovah _came down_ upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount; and Jehovah called Moses up to the top of the mount, and Moses went up." Exod. xix. 20. And when Moses took the two tables of stone up to the top of Sinai, "Jehovah _descended_ in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah."

Exod. x.x.xv. At the consecration of the seventy elders, "Jehovah _came down_ in a cloud, and spake unto Moses." Numbers xi. 25. At the sedition of Miriam and Aaron, "Jehovah _came down_ in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and said, Hear now my words."

Ibid. xii. 5. These and various other pa.s.sages clearly import a personal descent in a visible form; and no less clearly indicate, by the t.i.tles, occasions and acts narrated, that it was the delegated One, the Word, to whom all such manifestations refer, conformably to the allusion to the ascension of Christ, Ephes. iv.: "He that _descended_ is the same also that _ascended_ up far above all heavens."

The word translated _appeared_, in all the instances of local personal manifestation, literally means _appeared visibly_, _was seen_; as Gen.

i. 9: "Let the dry land _appear_;" Gen. viii. 5: "The tops of the mountains _were seen_;" and vii. 1: "Thee have I _seen_ righteous;" ix.

14: "The bow _shall be seen_;" x.x.xi. 42: "Elohim hath seen mine affliction;" xlviii. 3: "El-Shadai _appeared unto me_ at Luz;"

literally, _was seen by me_. Judges xiii. 22: "We _have seen_ Elohim."

Exod. xxiv. 10: "And they saw the Elohe of Israel."

This will be further ill.u.s.trated by reference to particular instances mentioned in the book of Genesis. "And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Jehovah who appeared unto him." Chap. lxii. 7. That this was a visible manifestation, is indicated not only by the obvious import of the terms employed, but by Abram's building an altar, and consecrating the locality as a place of wors.h.i.+p, and of typical offerings to Jehovah.

Again, chap. xvii. 1: "Jehovah _appeared_ to Abram, and said unto him, I am El-Shadai; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And Abram fell on his face; and Elohim talked with him, saying," &c. After changing his name to Abraham, and that of his wife to Sarah, announcing a covenant with him, hearing his prayer for Ishmael, and giving sundry promises and directions, "Elohim left off talking with him, and _went up_ from Abraham." The language, and all the circ.u.mstances and details of this interview, imply a local, personal, visible presence of Jehovah.

The next instance, chap. xviii., is that in which "Jehovah _appeared_ to Abraham in the plains of Mamre," in the likeness of man; was entertained by him, walked and conversed with, and heard his requests in behalf of the righteous in Sodom: which undoubtedly was a local, visible, personal appearance of Jehovah the Word.